In ChicagoFriday was the Blue Devils’ first test of the season, and they struggled at home. They performed flawlessly in the road retake on Tuesday night.
No. 9 Duke defeated No. 18 Michigan State 74-65 at the Champions Classic, earning its first victory among the top 25 this season by overcoming an early offensive slump and repelling a second-half comeback attempt. A balanced performance helped head coach Jon Scheyer’s squad to a crucial victory inside the United Centre ahead of a three-game homestand, with four Blue Devils scoring in double figures.
We took a major stride forward. We want to perform on this timetable. Play two of your first three games against Arizona and Michigan State, and then let’s assess our progress, Scheyer added. And in the first three games, I’ve probably learned more about this squad than any other I’ve played with.
Duke (2-1), which was defending its advantage late, saw something of a breakthrough in freshman guard Caleb Foster. With back-to-back 3-pointers in the last minutes, the Harrisburg, North Carolina, native scored a career-high and team-high 18 points overall (4 of 5 from distance) to put the Blue Devils up 68-56 and thwart the Spartan rally in its final minutes.
With 15 points and eight rebounds, sophomore centre Kyle Filipowski, who had scored 25 points in each of Duke’s opening two games, maintained his wild start. The Blue Devils defeated Michigan State for the first time since March 2022 thanks in part to the efforts of sophomores Tyrese Proctor (13 points, six rebounds, six assists) and Mark Mitchell (13 points), as well as senior captain Jeremy Roach (seven points, five assists).
Foster remarked, “My mindset was just to be ready when coach called my name.” “My coaches and teammates basically told me to be ready before the game. And I feel as though I’ve worked so hard to get to this point—this is a moment I’ve always wanted.”
Michigan State (1-2), down 31-20 at the half and having trouble scoring, dominated the first few minutes of the second half. Malik Hall, a graduate forward, scored seven points in a row to help the Spartans close the first stoppage deficit to only 35–31 before the Blue Devils reclaimed possession.
Tyson Walker and Hall led the Michigan State Spartans’ offensive charge. Walker forced a timeout after making three 3-pointers in as many minutes to trim Duke’s advantage to 51-48. The sophomore guard almost gave the Spartans the lead several times and scored eighteen of his twenty-two points in the second half.
Walker’s first half was quiet, as Hall led the Spartans and scored a season-high 18 points. In the backcourt, junior guard Jaden Akins scored 11 points in addition to Walker.
Tuesday, as the two potent offences went into their first media timeout with Michigan State ahead 3-2, it took some time for the scoring to really get going. Both teams scored on their opening possessions, but that was the last time the score changed until the Spartans’ freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr.’s transition basket at 14:57 ended the drought. From Filipowski’s first basket until his next layup with 13:19 remaining in the half, Duke’s own drought lasted 5:57.
With 7:13 remaining in the first half, graduating centre Ryan Young made a free throw to give Duke its first lead. After that, the team scarcely looked back. With the aid of Proctor and Mitchell, the Blue Devils overcame ten turnovers in the first half and led 31–20 at the half. In the first quarter, the Spartans committed nine turnovers and only shot 29% of the field.
Mitchell was largely responsible for Duke’s 12-2 surge to end the half. In the first 20 minutes of the game, the Sunrise Christian product scored a team-high nine points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field but 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. At the stripe, he guided the Blue Devils to a decisive lead. The Spartans missed their two first-half shots and eventually
“Man, Walker made some very good shots. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that they get fouled a lot despite his ability to shoot off bounce and contested shots, Scheyer said. “So protecting our paint and playing them without fouling was important for tonight, and we did that overall.”
Significantly, Hall ignited the Spartans’ offence with a wing 3-pointer to quickly dampen Michigan State’s 2-for-31 start to the season. The Spartans’ chilly shooting curse persisted all night: they hit only 2-of-13 from outside the arc in the first half and 6-of-19 overall. It took them just six tries and less than ten minutes of play time to accomplish that mark.
Along with
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